Maternal executive function, harsh parenting, and child conduct problems

Promoting Healthy Child Development via a Two-Generation Translational Neuroscience Framework: The Filming Interactions to Nurture Development Video Coaching Program

In this article, we focus on applying methods of translational neuroscience to two-generation, family-based interventions. In recent years, a small but growing body of evidence has documented the reversibility of some of the neurobiological effects of early adversity in the context of environmental early interventions. Some of these interventions are now being implemented at scale, which may help reduce disparities in the face of early life stress. Further progress may occur by extending these efforts to two-generation models that target caregivers' capabilities to improve children's outcomes. In this article, we describe the content and processes of the Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) video coaching intervention. We also discuss the two-generation, translational neuroscience framework on which FIND is based, and how similar approaches can be developed and scaled to mitigate the effects of adversity.

Family Financial Stress and Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking: The Role of Self-Regulation

The ability to control one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors is known as self-regulation. Family stress and low adolescent self-regulation have been linked with increased engagement in risky sexual behaviors, which peak in late adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess whether adolescent self-regulation, measured by parent and adolescent self-report and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, mediates or moderates the relationship between family financial stress and risky sexual behaviors. We assessed these relationships in a 4-year longitudinal sample of 450 adolescents (52 % female; 70 % white) and their parents using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that high family financial stress predicts engagement in risky sexual behaviors as mediated, but not moderated, by adolescent self-regulation. The results suggest that adolescent self-regulatory capacities are a mechanism through which proximal external forces influence adolescent risk-taking. Promoting adolescent self-regulation, especially in the face of external stressors, may be an important method to reduce risk-taking behaviors as adolescents transition to adulthood.

Mother-Child Interaction: Links Between Mother and Child Frontal Electroencephalograph Asymmetry and Negative Behavior

It is well accepted that parent-child interactions are bidirectional by nature, yet not much is known about the psychophysiological activity underlying these interactions. This study examined, during a parent-child interaction, how a child's negativity statistically predicted maternal frontal electroencephalograph (EEG) asymmetry and how a mother's negativity statistically predicted child frontal EEG asymmetry. Thirty-four mother-child dyads participated in the study. Maternal and child behaviors and physiology were measured during a puzzle task. Results indicated that mothers whose children exhibited more challenging behaviors during the dyadic interaction displayed more right (relative to left) asymmetry, as did children whose mothers were high in negativity during the interaction. These findings suggest that mothers and children react to each other's signals not only behaviorally but also physiologically.

Oxytocin and vasopressin hormone genes in children's externalizing problems: A cognitive endophenotype approach

Externalizing problems are among the most common mental health problems of children. Research suggests that these problems are heritable, yet little is known about the specific genes involved in their pathophysiology. The current study examined a genotype-endophenotype-phenotype model of externalizing problems in 320 preschool-aged children. Markers of the oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) hormone genes were selected as candidates owing to their known association with psychopathology in other domains. We tested whether OXT and AVP variants were related to children's externalizing problems, as well as two cognitive endophenotypes presumed to underlie these problems: theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF). Externalizing problems were assessed at age 4.5 using a previously-validated rating scale. ToM and EF were measured with age-appropriate tasks. Using a family-based association design and controlling for non-genomic confounds, support was found for an association between a two-marker OXT haplotype (rs2740210-rs2770378) and a two-marker AVP haplotype (rs1887854-rs3761249) and externalizing problems. Specific associations of these haplotypes with ToM and EF were also observed. Further, ToM and EF were shown to independently and jointly predict externalizing problems, and to partially mediate the effects of OXT and AVP on externalizing problems. This study provides the first evidence that genetic variation in OXT and AVP may contribute to individual differences in childhood externalizing problems, and that these effects may operate through emerging neurocognitive abilities in the preschool period.

The Role of Negative Affect and Physiological Regulation in maternal attribution

OBJECTIVE

Mothers who attribute child misbehaviors to children's intentions, and not to situational causes, show more hostile parenting behaviors. Why are some mothers more likely than others to make more hostile attributions (i.e., high intentional attributions and low situational attributions) when confronted with child challenging behaviors? We examined the relation between mothers' perception of child challenging behaviors and their hostile attributions of child misbehaviors, with an emphasis on how maternal negative affect and resting vagal activity moderated this relation.

DESIGN

160 mothers of 3- to 7-year-old children reported their perceptions of child problem behaviors, their attributions regarding child misbehaviors, and their temperamental negative affect. Mothers' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured during resting state.

RESULTS

Maternal perceptions of child challenging behaviors were positively related to hostile maternal attributions, and this relation was strongest in mothers with high negative affect and low resting RSA.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate the importance of considering mothers' affective and physiological attributes when examining social-cognitive processes in parenting.

Keeping Mind in Mind: Mentalizing and Executive Functioning in Substance-Abusing Infant Mothers: Effect on Dyadic Relationship and Infant Outcome

Although it is well documented that maternal substance abuse has a negative effect on the mother–child interaction, less is known about the pathways through which the interaction is compromised. The main objective of this research proposal is to describe an ongoing research project that focuses on associations between maternal executive function and the quality of mother–infant interaction when the mother has a history of substance abuse. We will also investigate the effects of multiple variables, including maternal relationship experiences, personality disposition, parental stress, comorbid mental illness, and addiction severity, on the dyadic interaction and child functioning. A group of 40–50 mothers with substance abuse problems and their infants aged 6–18 months will be included. The mothers will be assessed with neuropsychological tests, clinical interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and dyadic interaction observations as well as observation and assessment of child functioning. We will use a cross-sectional correlational design. The inclusion of the participants will end in October 2015. Further knowledge about the variables that are important for the mother–infant relationship can inform future research and clinical practice.

The role of temperament by family environment interactions in child maladjustment

In order to advance our understanding of the etiology of individual differences in child maladjustment (i.e., conduct and emotional problems), we tested hypotheses about the statistical interactions between child temperament and two aspects of the family environment: maternal negativity and positivity, and household chaos (e.g., crowding, noise, lack of routines). Mothers (n = 149) reported on their child's effortful control, negative affect, surgency, and behavioral/emotional problems. The age range of the children was 3 to 7 years old and half of the sample was girls. Observers rated maternal negativity and positivity based on brief structured interaction tasks in the laboratory. Child temperament moderated the association between maternal negativity/positivity and child maladjustment. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were associated only for those children who also were high in surgency or negative affectivity. Maternal positivity was associated with less child problem behavior for those high in surgency. Child effortful control interacted with both maternal negativity and chaos. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were most strongly associated for children who were low in effortful control and living in chaotic homes. The results point to distinct transactions between child temperament and maternal negativity/positivity that depend in part on the dimensions of temperament and parenting behavior in question.

Emotion Regulation in Parenthood

Emotion regulation, defined as the capacity to influence one's experience and expression of emotion, is a complex skill now recognized to evolve throughout the lifetime. Here we examine the role of emotion regulation in parenthood, and propose that regulatory function during this period is distinct from the emotion regulation skills acquired and implemented during other periods of life. In this review, we consider the unique demands of caring for a child and recognize that parents have to maintain a regulated state as well as facilitate regulation in their child, especially early in development. We examine neurobiological, hormonal and behavioral shifts during the transition to parenthood that may facilitate parental regulation in response to infant cues. Furthermore, we consider how parents shape emotion regulation in their child, and the clinical implications of regulatory functioning within the parent-child relationship.

Maternal emotion and cognitive control capacities and parenting: A conceptual framework

PURPOSE

Emerging evidence suggests that maternal emotion and cognitive control capacities are critical to the development and maintenance of parenting practices and may be related to parents' ability to seek and use parenting help. The purpose of this paper is to present a cohesive conceptual framework on the intersection of maternal emotion and cognitive control capacities and parenting based on a review of literature.

METHODS

We conducted a comprehensive literature review of articles published between 2000 and February 2014 that addressed maternal emotion and cognitive control and parenting. The 35 articles identified were assigned a methodological quality score.

RESULTS

Low maternal emotion and cognitive control capacity is associated with increased risk of engaging in child maltreatment, whereas higher maternal emotion and cognitive regulation is associated with sensitive, involved parenting. Contextual factors, such as SES and household organization, play a complex and not clearly understood role on the association between maternal cognitive control and parenting. A conceptual framework was developed based on the results of the literature review.

CONCLUSIONS

The conceptual framework developed can be used to inform future research and practice. Longitudinal studies that assess the temporal relationship of maternal emotion and cognitive control and parenting are necessary to establish causality. Research that addresses how maternal emotion regulation and cognitive control capacities are related to mothers' enrollment and participation in parenting and early intervention programs is an important next step to strengthening policy and intervention work.

Emotion suppression moderates the quadratic association between RSA and executive function

There is uncertainty about whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a cardiac marker of adaptive emotion regulation, is involved in relatively low or high executive function performance. In the present study, we investigated (a) whether RSA during rest and tasks predict both relatively low and high executive function within a larger quadratic association among the two variables, and (b) the extent to which this quadratic trend was moderated by individual differences in emotion regulation. To achieve these aims, a sample of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse women self-reported reappraisal and emotion suppression. They next experienced a 2-min resting period during which electrocardiogram (ECG) was continually assessed. In the next phase, the women completed an array of executive function and nonexecutive cognitive tasks while ECG was measured throughout. As anticipated, resting RSA showed a quadratic association with executive function that was strongest for high suppression. These results suggest that relatively high resting RSA may predict poor executive function ability when emotion regulation consumes executive control resources needed for ongoing cognitive performance.

Intergenerational transmission of self-regulation: A multidisciplinary review and integrative conceptual framework

This review examines mechanisms contributing to the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation. To provide an integrated account of how self-regulation is transmitted across generations, we draw from over 75 years of accumulated evidence, spanning case studies to experimental approaches, in literatures covering developmental, social, and clinical psychology, and criminology, physiology, genetics, and human and animal neuroscience (among others). First, we present a taxonomy of what self-regulation is and then examine how it develops--overviews that guide the main foci of the review. Next, studies supporting an association between parent and child self-regulation are reviewed. Subsequently, literature that considers potential social mechanisms of transmission, specifically parenting behavior, interparental (i.e., marital) relationship behaviors, and broader rearing influences (e.g., household chaos) is considered. Finally, evidence that prenatal programming may be the starting point of the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation is covered, along with key findings from the behavioral and molecular genetics literatures. To integrate these literatures, we introduce the self-regulation intergenerational transmission model, a framework that brings together prenatal, social/contextual, and neurobiological mechanisms (spanning endocrine, neural, and genetic levels, including gene-environment interplay and epigenetic processes) to explain the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation. This model also incorporates potential transactional processes between generations (e.g., children's self-regulation and parent-child interaction dynamics that may affect parents' self-regulation) that further influence intergenerational processes. In pointing the way forward, we note key future directions and ways to address limitations in existing work throughout the review and in closing. We also conclude by noting several implications for intervention work.

Tailoring a video-feedback intervention for sensitive discipline to parents with intellectual disabilities: a process evaluation

Parenting support programs for the general population may not be effective for parents with intellectual disabilities (ID). A videobased intervention program based on attachment and coercion theory (Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting with additional focus on Sensitive Discipline; VIPP-SD) was tailored to parents with ID and the implementation of the adapted program was evaluated by the home visitors conducting the program. Home visitors (N = 17) of 36 families rated the intervention process during each session. Home visitors' evaluations showed a significant increase in positive ratings of parents' easiness to work with, amenability to influence, and openness. Cooperation remained stable. A case example illustrated this process, showing how feedback using video facilitated changes in the perceptions and attributions of a mother with mild ID.

Multifaceted emotion regulation, stress and affect in mothers of young children

We tested a novel multi-component emotion self-regulation construct that captured physiological (vagal tone), cognitive (reappraisal) and temperament (effortful control) aspects of emotion regulation (ER) as a moderator of the link between more stressors and greater negative/less positive affectivity (NA and PA). A socio-economically diverse sample of 151 women with young children completed questionnaires and a laboratory visit (including cognitive and parent-child interaction tasks and vagal tone measurement). Women with more stressors had more NA and less PA. Furthermore, for NA only, having more stressors was substantially associated with NA but only among women with the lowest ER. This pattern was evident for the composite as well as individual indicators of ER. Results were not attributable to individual differences in executive function. Findings are discussed in light of the diathesis-stress model of stress and coping.

Resilience as Regulation of Developmental and Family Processes

Resilience can be defined as establishing equilibrium subsequent to disturbances to a system caused by significant adversity. When families experience adversity or transitions, multiple regulatory processes may be involved in establishing equilibrium, including adaptability, regulation of negative affect, and effective problem-solving skills. The authors' resilience-as-regulation perspective integrates insights about the regulation of individual development with processes that regulate family systems. This middle-range theory of family resilience focuses on regulatory processes across levels that are involved in adaptation: whole-family systems such as routines and sense of coherence; coregulation of dyads involving emotion regulation, structuring, and reciprocal influences between social partners; and individual self-regulation. Insights about resilience-as-regulation are then applied to family-strengthening interventions that are designed to promote adaptation to adversity. Unresolved issues are discussed in relation to resilience-as-regulation in families, in particular how risk exposure is assessed, interrelations among family regulatory mechanisms, and how families scaffold the development of children's resilience.

Maternal child-centered attributions and harsh discipline: the moderating role of maternal working memory across socioeconomic contexts

Cognitive models of parenting give emphasis to the central role that parental cognitions may play in parental socialization goals. In particular, dual process models suggest that parental attribution styles affect the way parents interpret caregiving situations and enact behaviors, particularly within the realm of discipline. Although research has documented the negative behavioral repercussions of dysfunctional child-centered responsibility biases, there is heterogeneity in the level of these associations. Research has also demonstrated that parental working memory capacity may serve as an individual difference factor in influencing caregiving behaviors. Thus, our first aim was to document how maternal working memory capacity may moderate the association between mother's dysfunctional child-oriented attributions and use of harsh discipline. In addition, from an ecological perspective, a second aim was to examine how socioeconomic risk may further potentiate the impact of maternal working memory. To accomplish these aims, a socioeconomically diverse sample of 185 mothers and their 3-year old children were recruited to participate in a laboratory-based research assessment. Findings revealed that lower maternal working memory capacity may operate as a risk factor for attributional biases and harsh discipline, and higher working memory may serve as a protective factor in this relationship. Socioeconomic risk further moderated these findings. Results suggest that the moderating role of working memory may be particularly pronounced under conditions of socioeconomic risk. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Maternal Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Chronic Stressors Moderate the Link between Child Conduct Problems and Maternal Negativity

Frontal EEG asymmetry is associated with individual differences in positive/negative emotionality and approach/avoidance tendencies. The current study examined the moderating role of maternal resting frontal EEG asymmetry on the link between child behavior problems and maternal harsh parenting, within the context of differing degrees of chronic family stressors (father unemployment, single parenthood, caring for multiple children, and household chaos). The sample included 121 mother-child pairs. Results showed that stressors and frontal EEG asymmetry together moderated the link. Child problem behaviors were moderately associated with greater maternal negativity for mothers with right frontal asymmetry, or mothers who experienced more stressors. However, no association existed between child behavior problems and maternal negativity for mothers with few stressors and left frontal asymmetry. The findings implicate transactions between household stress and a psychophysiological indicator of maternal emotional reactivity and mothers' approach/avoidance tendencies, in the etiology of parental negativity toward challenging child behaviors.

Family matters: Intergenerational and interpersonal processes of executive function and attentive behavior

Individual differences in self-regulation include executive function (EF) components that serve self-regulation of attentive behavior by modulating reactive responses to the environment. These factors "run in families". The purpose of this review is to summarize a program of research that addresses familial inter-generational transmission and inter-personal processes in development. Self-regulation of attentive behavior involves inter-related aspects of executive function (EF) including attention, inhibitory control, and working memory. Individual differences in EF skills develop in systematic ways over childhood, resulting in moderately stable differences between people by early adolescence. Through complex gene-environment transactions, EF is transmitted across generations within parent-child relationships that provide powerful socialization and experiential contexts in which EF and related attentive behavior are forged and practiced. Families matter as parents regulate home environments and themselves as best they can while also supporting cognitive self-regulation of attentive behavior in their children.

What's mom got to do with it? Contributions of maternal executive function and caregiving to the development of executive function across early childhood

Executive functions (EFs; e.g. working memory, inhibitory control) are mediated by the prefrontal cortex and associated with optimal cognitive and socio-emotional development. This study provides the first concurrent analysis of the relative contributions of maternal EF and caregiving to child EF. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age-appropriate interaction (10, 24, 36 months) and EF tasks (child: 24, 36, and 48 months). Regression analyses revealed that by 36 months of age, maternal EF and negative caregiving behaviors accounted for unique variance in child EF, above and beyond maternal education and child verbal ability. These findings were confirmed when using an early child EF composite-our most reliable measure of EF - and a similar pattern was found when controlling for stability in child EF. Furthermore, there was evidence that maternal EF had significant indirect effects on changes in child EF through maternal caregiving. At 24 months, EF was associated with maternal EF, but not negative caregiving behaviors. Taken together, these findings suggest that links between negative caregiving and child EF are increasingly manifested during early childhood. Although maternal EF and negative caregiving are related, they provide unique information about the development of child EF. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPKXFbbrkps.

A longitudinal intergenerational analysis of executive functions during early childhood

Despite the importance of executive function (EF) in both clinical and educational contexts, the aetiology of individual differences in early childhood EF remains poorly understood. This study provides the first longitudinal intergenerational analysis of mother-child EF associations during early childhood. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age-appropriate EF tasks. Mother and child EFs were modestly correlated by 24 months of age, and this association was stable through 48 months. Importantly, maternal-child EF associations were still robust after controlling for verbal ability (potential indicator of verbal/crystallized intelligence) and maternal education (correlate of socio-economic status and verbal intelligence). Potential implications of these findings as well as underlying mechanisms of the maternal-child EF association (gene-environment interplay) are discussed.

Household chaos moderates the link between maternal attribution bias and parenting: Parenting: Science and Practice

OBJECTIVE

Parents who attribute child misbehavior to children's intentions and dismiss situational factors tend to show more hostility and less warmth in their parenting behavior, and are at greater risk for maltreatment. We extended this literature by investigating the role of household chaos as a moderator of the link between maternal attribution biases and parenting behaviors.

DESIGN

The current sample included 160 mothers of 3- to7-year-old children. Mothers provided reports on their attribution biases and household chaos levels. Maternal negativity and positivity were measured using self-reports and observers' ratings.

RESULTS

The links between attribution bias and parenting behavior were stronger in more chaotic environments, with the moderating effect of chaos being particularly strong for internal attribution bias.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings point to the importance of social cognitive biases in the etiology of maternal behavior in family contexts that lack order and predictability.

Flexibility and adaptation of the neural substrate that supports maternal behavior in mammals

Maternal behavior is species-specific and expressed under different physiological conditions, and contexts. It is the result of neural processes that support different forms (e.g. postpartum, cycling sensitized and spontaneous maternal behavior) and modalities of mother-offspring interaction (e.g. maternal interaction with altricial/precocious young; selective/non-selective bond). To understand how the brain adapts to and regulates maternal behavior in different species, and physiological and social conditions we propose new neural models to explain different forms of maternal expression (e.g. sensitized and spontaneous maternal behavior) and the behavioral changes that occur across the postpartum period. We emphasize the changing role of the medial preoptic area in the neural circuitry that supports maternal behavior and the cortical regulation and adjustment of ongoing behavioral performance. Finally, we discuss how our accumulated knowledge about the psychobiology of mothering in animal models supports the validity of animal studies to guide our understanding of human mothering and to improve human welfare and health.